Fall to Pieces
by DreamsMadeFlesh
Summary: OotP SPOILERS! Charlie Weasley finds his cousin, Eve, reading a letter from home, and sees a side of her that very few ever see.


**A/N**: _Okay.. linny.. I'm sorry.. I can't think of a goddamned thing to write for the sequel. its in the works. really. This is named after the song by Velvet Revolver, as.. well.. it fits._

_Anywho.. anyone who's poked through my deviantart gallery ( www.rakkadarkflame. ) knows how much effort I put into characters who, as far as storylines are concerned, are flat, and show up for three pages in the whole thing. Such is the case with Eve Darkflame. So here you get to see another side of her._

**IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE END OF 'ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, PLEASE STOP HERE! **_I don't want to ruin a good book for you, and this is heavy with spoilers. Proceed with caution. You were warned!_

It was three o'clock on a lazy thursday afternoon at the Draaknov Instiute of Romania, a terribly unsuspiscious time of day, at which one would hardly expect to recieve an owl carrying the most horrid, crushing news they'd ever laid eyes upon. Perhaps that was why, as he approached the door to the office of Professor Eve Darkflame, Charlie Weasley didn't suspect a thing.

"Eve," Charlie knocked twice. "Me 'n the boys were headed out for an afternoon drink. Care to join?"

Inside, Charlie thought he heard the last thing he would ever expect to hear from his bubbly, headstrong cousin: stifled sobs.

"Eve, love, I'm coming in," Charlie called, and turned the doorknob, which was usually locked by muggle means, if not by magic as well, and his heart felt like it jammed up in his throat.

There, by the fireplace, Eve was curled up in a ball on her favorite chair, a crumpled piece of parchment on the floor, with a large, silver ring on top of it, likely the only reason it was staying put. Her choppy, blonde hair was askew, covering her face. He could tell her usual, confident smirk was gone by the way her chest heaved with each breath as she struggled against the tears that soaked into the knees of her pants, the sleeves of her Weasley sweater pulled over her balled fists, which she wiped against her face, trying desperately to dry it.

"Eve," Charlie said softly, unsure of what to do. When she finally looked up at him, her tearstained face was pulled into a tight smile that made Charlie's heart sink. She pushed up her sleeve, showing him the silver bracelet on her left wrist.

"This.. Sirius gave me this," she smiled, wiping her eyes with her right hand, staring at the bracelet, then up at him.

"Eve," again, there was nothing Charlie could think of to say to her, other than her own name.

"He... I never got to say goodbye to him before they dragged him off to Azkaban, all those years ago.. I was so happy to see him when he came back.. so happy to see him free, safe... but now... he's gone again, and I didn't get to say goodbye.. he always did have such terrible timing, didn't he?"

"They put him back in Azkaban?" Charlie asked, concerned. Eve couldn't form words, she just pointed at the parchment on the floor and collapsed into sobs again. Charlie picked it up, and began to read.

_Dearest sister,_

_Dumbledore wanted to write to you himself, but I thought it might be better if I be the one to tell you. _

_As you know, Harry has been feeling the emotions of Voldemort, and has recently been, when sleeping, dreaming of what Voldemort is doing. Unfortunately, Voldemort became aware of this, and tricked Harry into believing that he has Sirius captive in the Department of Mysteries. Harry, being just like his father, charged in there to the rescue, only to be the only one requiring any rescuing. We managed to get him and the students that accompanied him back into Order custody, but there were several of Voldemort's best there with him, and I'm afraid there was one casualty._

_I'm sorry, Eve, but Sirius is dead. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange._

_A war is starting, and we will need your help before this is all over. But I think it's best you stay in Romania for now. We already have our hands full babysitting Harry, we don't need you running off and doing anything rash with him. We've been debating if we should tell him about you or not, and in the end, decided to leave it up to you. I know you have your bracelet, but here's another something to remember him by. He never took it off, until the day he left for the Department of Mysteries. I don't know exactly why he left it behind, but I think he meant you to have it back. _

_And rest assured, myself and the rest of the Order shall not rest until his name is cleared, and his memory avenged. I'll try my damnedest to leave Bellatrix for you, but I can't make any promises._

_My love and sincerest apologies,_

_-R_

Charlie held the silver ring in his hand, and examined the crest on it, expecting it to be the Black family crest, but instead, finding it to be the Darkflame family's.

"I gave that to Sirius for our second anniversary together," she smiled. "It fell on graduation, of all times.. I gave him that ring, and he gave me this bracelet. Sirius wasn't a member of the Black Family anymore, and my father agreed for him to be an honorary member of our family, instead. That ring was an old family heirloom."

"How did Rakka send this letter? It couldn't have been by owl."

"No," Eve got up, and drew back the heavy drapes that blocked her balcony off, revealing massive beast that paced just beyond the glass doors. "She send it by hippogriff."

"How on earth..? " Charlie trailed off, dumbfounded.

"His name is Buckbeak. Hagrid had him for class, but Fudge was going to have him put down, so Harry and Hermione freed him, and used him to spring Sirius. Sirius had been taking care of him since, but..."

"Ssh, you don't have to say it," Charlie said softly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and she shook with hardly contained sobs. "I can't say I know how you feel, Eve, but I'm here for you anyway."

Perhaps it was the kind words, or the way, when he spoke so softly, he sounded rather like Sirius, but something in that moment made Eve give in and cry into her cousin's shirt until her chest ached, thinking of that reckless, crooked smile she'd never see again.


End file.
